Choo Mi-ae postpones suspension of Deputy Chief Jeong Jin-woong over 'abuse of authority'... orders Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department to investigate prosecution process

Order to Review Legislation for Forcible Mobile Phone Password Unlock Targeting Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon
Legal Community: "Idea Contradicts the Principles of Criminal Procedure Law"

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice announced on the 12th that Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae has postponed the suspension of duties for Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted on charges of official violence under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and instead ordered the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department to investigate the truth behind the indictment process of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong by the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.

Minister Choo also instructed a review of legislation that would allow the forced unlocking of mobile phone passwords in relation to Chief Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, whose investigation has reached a stalemate. In response, Chief Prosecutor Han described this as an "unconstitutional idea."

On the same day, the Ministry of Justice stated through a ministry notice, "On the 5th, the Minister of Justice instructed the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department to verify the appropriateness of the indictment process concerning the official violence charges and to report the findings. Based on the thorough review of the investigation results, a decision will be made regarding the suspension of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong's duties."

The Ministry cited as the background for this directive media reports that during the indictment process by the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department, the lead prosecutor was excluded and the indictment was pushed from higher-ups, as well as procedural issues where Supreme Prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol's request to suspend Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong's duties faced official objections from Han Dong-soo, head of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department, but these objections were excluded from approval.

However, within the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, although there were differing opinions on whether to apply the criminal law's official violence charge or the special law's official violence charge actually applied, no prosecutor opposed the indictment itself within the Inspection Department, and the lead prosecutor also shared this stance, according to the official position of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.

The Ministry of Justice also stated, "Minister Choo instructed a review of legislation that, referencing foreign laws such as those in the UK, would enforce compliance with court orders under certain conditions and impose sanctions if a suspect maliciously hides their mobile phone password and obstructs investigations, as in the case of Chief Prosecutor Han."

This series of directives by Minister Choo appears to stem from the situation where the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which has been investigating the 'Channel A attempted coercion' case under the 'media-prosecutor collusion' frame involving a reporter and Chief Prosecutor Han, has effectively failed to prove Han's charges.

With no evidence revealing Chief Prosecutor Han's collusion and instead Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong, who was the investigation team leader, being indicted, criticism has arisen that Prosecutor General Yoon's investigative command was a misstep, as he excluded his authority and entrusted full power to District Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon. In this context, suspending or disciplining Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeong would be a burden for Minister Choo.

Nevertheless, even considering these circumstances, there are internal criticisms within the prosecution that challenging the investigation results of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office itself is inappropriate.

Active Prosecutor A pointed out, "The Ministry of Justice proposed distributing the Prosecutor General's investigative command authority to each high prosecutor to reform the prosecution, but not recognizing the indictment approved by the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Chief is inconsistent."

In particular, the directive to review legislation that would forcibly unlock mobile phone passwords targeting Chief Prosecutor Han directly has been criticized as contrary to the principles of criminal procedure law, represented by the presumption of innocence.

Former senior judge B stated, "Because prosecutors and suspects have different power dynamics, protecting the suspect's human rights is the starting point of criminal procedure law. The focus is on protecting the suspect's right to defense and right to counsel, and punishing that separately is equivalent to disarming them," he criticized.

Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor Han also expressed his view on Minister Choo's directive, saying, "The defense rights of the party involved are constitutional rights, and I find it absurd that the Minister of Justice, who should be the bastion of the constitution and human rights protection, publicly condemns the exercise of constitutional rights by the party as 'malicious' and talks about legislation to block it," calling it an "unconstitutional idea."

In fact, under current criminal law and criminal procedure law, suspects or defendants suspected of committing crimes are guaranteed the right not to be forced to make self-incriminating statements according to the principle of self-incrimination refusal. Furthermore, even if they destroy evidence related to their crimes or give false testimony in court, these acts are not punished because they are considered natural human behavior.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.